Wait, what's that you're saying?
What about the last four months?
No idea what you're talking about.
Never happened.
<.< >.>
Seriously. Last year the world skipped the last half of September through the end of January. I checked.
I'll probably post anecdotes. I'm just terrible at keeping up with any form of diary.
But back to last night. We've had two unofficial welcome parties for New Guy-san already, but this was the official-official one. On a Wednesday night. o.O But okay.
The party was at the 焼肉, yakiniku (kinda like barbecue) restaurant in town. I like yakiniku! (Literally it means burned meat. Fitting, huh?) I wound up sitting across from my three-times-removed boss (as in my boss's boss's boss's boss) and -his- boss, as well as a lady I've never met before but apparently runs a cafe here in town somewhere, and between Yko-san and New Guy-san. The Uber Boss kept talking about me and how great my Japanese was and I know everything about Japan and Japanese society and I'm so polite and I could only understand about half of what he said, honestly, but good god he kept talking about me. x.x
And then he looked at New Guy-kun and says, "Oh dear, New Guy-kun, Ashli is your senpai!" (先輩, senpai, means senior or upperclassman. It's a somewhat complicated relationship, but places me higher than New Guy-kun in the office hierarchy [in theory, anyway]).
So New Guy-kun turns to me and bows really low at the table. 「あ、アシュリーさん、僕はただの日本人なんですけど、何も知りませんです！どうか教えてください！」 "Oh, Ashli-san, I'm just a Japanese person but I don't know anything! Please somehow teach me!"
He was laughing and really it was a joke, but how am I supposed to respond to this?!
Apparently I have a very nice speaking voice in Japanese. It's not too high, it's very calm and soothing, and I have an excellent accent. I get these compliments a lot, so maybe they're true. Hm.
Someone came by and interrupted the Uber Boss and his Ashli-centric train of speech, so I seized the opportunity and ran away. xD One of my coworkers came in quite late and conveniently a couple of spaces around him had opened up, so I went to say hi and make sure he was okay. He's very nice to me at work, Ichi-san is--he talks to me a lot (like, real conversations, not "Hey, Ashli, you're schedule's changed a bit for this week" or "Are you catching a cold?") and he randomly gives me chocolate.
Actually, last month at the 忘年会, literally "Forget the year party," a kind of year-end party, he won a box of chocolates as a prize and gave them to me, saying he didn't like chocolate. But then a few weeks later when work started up again after the holidays, he started randomly giving me chocolate at work. Like, he'd get some from the kitchen and bring me some too. o.O But he's really nice to me. (^-^)
Actually the other day in the morning I saw the bag of chocolates in the kitchen while I was getting coffee and thought, Huh, why hasn't Ichi-san given me any chocolate lately? And I was kinda bummed about it, too. I mean, it's free for grabs, if I wanted chocolate I could just take it, but that wasn't the point. And then in the afternoon he passed by my desk.
Ichi-san: 「アシュリー、チョコレートいる？」 Ashli, do you want a chocolate?
Me: 「あ、ありがとうございます！」 Thank you!
Ichi-san: 「あ、そうだっけ、アシュリーは今ダイエット中じゃない？」 Oh, that's right, aren't you on a diet?
Me: 「。。。そうだね。」....yeah.
Ashli's thoughts: Yes. Yes, I am. I'm still eating this, tho.
Ichi-san, smoothly offering me chocolate
and then pointing out my diet.
and then pointing out my diet.
Yeah, I'm on a bit of a diet. Not like strict diet or anything, just cutting out most of the junk food and not eating after 9 pm unless I'm out drinking. And he knows this because I was kind of complaining that my English Conversation classes decided to make brownies for our cooking class and I was on a diet, so I'd have to make two pans of brownies that I couldn't eat. Of course, we had a party last weekend too, and Ichi-san kept giving me chocolates at the bar, too, so I'd thought he'd forgotten. xD'
Anyway. Last night's party. I escaped my table to talk to Ichi-san.
The Uber Boss was asked to give the closing speech. He stood up and looked around. 「この部屋には、美人がいっぱいいますね。そうですけど、アシュリーさんが逃げてしまいました。」 "Hmm, this room is full of beautiful women, isn't it? Though Ashli-san ran away."
He seriously said that. In front of everyone. >.<'' Through the laughter Yko-san pointed out that I was sitting two people to his left. xD
Anyway. After the dinner about half the people went to a bar for karaoke. I like karaoke, and people like asking me to sing English songs, so it works out. Japanese people are always so surprised when I can sing Japanese songs. Granted, I only know, like, five, and half the time the bars here don't have most of them, but still. Ichi-san remembered where I sat the last time we were at this bar and sat across from me so he could ask me to sing songs more easily. He had me sing the Eurobeat version of the Mickey Mouse March. I don't know the regular version of the Mickey Mouse March, let alone the Eurobeat version! But it was actually fun. ^-^
One of the ladies from the school lunch office,
New Guy-san, and Ichi-san
My boss's boss, me, and the new lady at the school lunch office.
She's really nice!
So all in all it was a rather fun night. ^-^ I drank too much, tho, and was decently drunk when I got home. Which is great, for work parties, because everyone acknowledges that I talk more when I drink, in both English and Japanese. But it's not so great when I have to get up and go to class in the morning. Why have a work party on a Wednesday night!?
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